My New Year Wrap Up

2011 has been quite a year for our household! Here are some of the good and bad that have happened this year:
- P joined the party! One of the most nerve racking and best days of our lives.
- I stopped itching! The last 6 weeks of my pregnancy were rough due to PUPPPS. I feel for all women who have to go through this!
- I signed up to do the Cleveland Breast Cancer 3 Day with Amy. Our fundraising efforts have been tough so far but we have 8 more months to go!
- J and I are as strong as ever. Having a baby is one of those challenging events and I am proud to say that I think that we have come out stronger.
- We had our 10th wedding anniversary. We have yet to celebrate officially (due to my diet) but we will be soon!
- J is one great dad! I never doubted his ability and he has proven to me day after day that I have the best partner in raising our daughter ever!
- P has had lots of firsts - Easter, back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all the little things (rolling, waving, solids, etc).
- We have managed breastfeeding for all 9+ months - even through being soy and milk free.
- Based on the last one - I have soy back!!!! I am pumped to get back dairy but we have some more time for that!

This is not a complete list but some of the highlights from our year. My hopes for 2012 is to enjoy our family, watch P grow, and have fun! I hope that for everyone, especially those around me! Take care!

Fill in the blank Friday - New Year style

1.   New Years is: a time to reflect, celebrate, and renew! We have already spent some time reorganzing and planning for more ways to keep it together in our house (which is one of my favorite things to do)!

2.   One of my New Year's resolutions will be: complete the 3 day! I mean all 60 miles this time!

3.  A New Year's resolution I've made in the past was to: lose weight (who hasn't made this one). I am over this at this point, I will excersize more and try to eat right 80% of the time.

4. The most time consuming resolution I ever made was: not sure. In my adult life I have resolved to do something positive so I hope many have become habit!

5.  This year I will be spending New Year's Eve: home with J. P will stay on her regular routine but we decided to stay in and hang with each other. We normally get together with college friends but we just want to relax for a whole weekend!

6.  If I could wish one thing for my new year it would be: to enjoy my family as much as possible. We have worked hard to get here and I want to enjoy it!

7.  2012 is going to be: so fun to watch P grow and learn! We have seen so much this year from her but it is just the beginning!

Hope you have a great New Years!

A great weekend

Christmas was good to us once again. Although Payton's first wasn't white, I am okay with that. We headed up to J's parents on Christmas eve. It was just the five of us for dinner and presents. MIL and FIL went to church and we put P down. I was in bed at 10:30 myself, worried that P would keep everyone up. She didn't! J and I got up before her!

We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. Then packed the car for the 45 minute drive home. She slept and we talked - about her of course. After unloading, we were off for Christmas with my family. We plowed through a lot of presents in about 2 hours. We let the 4 and 5 year-olds set the pace. After a whirlwind of paper and the dads loading the cars. We were able to sit down to dinner.

Back home We unloaded and got P to bed. Then we organized the piles so we could manage it a little better. We went through what needed to go back so I could start that process on Monday. Then we fell into bed!

Monday I was in my glory. First a few kidless hours (thanks J) to get some returns done and get wrapping paper for next year. Then the organizing began. P's and our closets are in much better shape, the toys are semi contained, and several kitchen cabinets are cleaned up. I have so e bins to buy to finish up the toys. We need to repair a cabinet shelf to wrap up the kitchen. But we have control of our house back!

It was a great weekend and will be a good week. I have some returns still to do and cleaning to take care of but I am home and J has a short work week. We are planning a quiet night at home for new year's but I will be around here with the good and the bad of what we have from this past year and what we have planned for this coming year!

Fill In the Blank Friday

Check out Fill in the Blank Friday originated over at the little things we do.

1. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is: say Merry Christmas! With a big grin!

2. The thing I love most about Christmas is: Christmas music. Especially the old cheesy songs!

3. The holiday season is a time for: family. As crazy and stressful as they can be, our families fill the memories of every holiday!

4. My favorite thing to eat at the holidays is: Starbucks holiday drinks. I know that is super trendy but I love them! I splurge more during this season than any other time of the year.

5. I will be spending Christmas: split between the in laws and my family. Most importantly I will be with J and P!

6. Tis better to (give or receive?): Give!! I love to shop for the perfect gift and this process starts early. Then wrapping - I love it! Finally seeing the person's face as they open it. I usually stink at waiting to give!

7. I'm dreaming of a: white but drivable Christmas. With traveling 45 minutes between families, I want it to be safe but I like the tradition go snow. The weather is not on my side this year though!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Wordless Wednesday

Well almost...

This is our first day of break and P slept in for me!

Review: Keychain from Pressed Upon Designs

This year's Christmas for J was all about how much I appreciate him as a great dad. He loves P so much and he does a fantastic job taking care of both of us. One thing I really wanted was to get him a key chain. Enter Pressed Upon Designs! Jodi designed a few choices for me. Within days we had hammered (sorry for the pun) out the details and off to work she went.

In the mail, soon after, was J's key chain in a cute organza bag. He LOVED it and put it on his car key immediately. I loved it too.

Jodi was fabulous to work with. Check out her shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/PressedUponDesigns. Happy shopping!

**I was not paid or compensated in any way for this review. The thoughts and opinions are all my own.

Review: hand embroidered onses from Eleanore's Treasures

Tell me that picture doesn't say it all! I wanted to have a cute, Christmas Oneses that P could wear after the holidays so I enlisted the help of Talia at Eleanore's Treasures on Etsy.com. I gave her the size, that I wanted the word joy, and I wanted it to be holiday print and she worked her magic!

It is beautiful and has been through the wash several times and it looks like new. We will be wearing this on Christmas morning too!

You can check out her current stock at http://www.etsy.com/shop/eleanorestreasures. If you have a special request, just message her - she is a dream to work with!

PS - she has gone a step further and offered to donate to my fund raising efforts for the 3 Day if you mention it at check out. :)

**I was not paid or compensated in any way for this review. The thoughts and opinions are all my own.

9 months!

Wow time flies! We are in that last "chunk" of year 1 and I can't believe it! Here are her stats:

Age: 9 months

Stats: we will know officially tomorrow but two weeks ago she was 19lb 15 oz. I a, sure we have tipped 20lbs but I am hoping to squeeze a little longer out of the infant seat. It goes up to 22lbs. I am very curious to find out her height. I feel like she is stretching out big time!

Size (clothes, diapers, etc): we are still in size 3 diapers. I think and hope we will be here for a while as we have our next couple shipments from Amazon mom coming in the next couple weeks. Clothes we are solidly in 9 months but things are getting tight on length. We asked Santa to bring us 12 month clothes so we will be ready.

Sleeping: STTN on a regular basis (as I type this at 2:00am). Naps are a little light but still 2-3 a day.

Milestones: sitting is a piece of cake. She can sign more and clap. We are working on waving. Food wise, I am back on soy! Next up milk. I will be talking to the pedi tomorrow about how that will go. Lots of sounds like ma, da, ba, go. She likes to hug and say ahh at the same time and it is soooo cute!

Favorites: Anything she can clap together, especially the rings from the stacking toy. Sophie is still high on the list. She loves to chew on her toothbrush (odd but it works) and teething rings. We got her My Pal Violet and the Zaney Zoo activity cube for Christmas and they have both been a hit!

Looking forward to: More solid food, dairy for mom, more talking, maybe crawling. Most of all Christmas! It will be a whirlwind weekend but I think she will love the paper and toys. I will love the new clothes and time with family. We are doing some professional pics later this week too but in the meantime...

What a weekend!

I definitely have a love hate relationship with this time of year. Here are the good and bad if it for me:

The good:
- I love shopping and more importantly I love buying things for people that they want. I am usually good and remembering the little things that J wants but doesn't buy through the year and save some for Christmas.
- I love get togethers. I like to graze and chat and lounge! I love to host too.
- I love the cheesy decor that the holidays bring. Christmas lights are my favorite!
- Christmas day is my mom's shinning moment and I love that she revels in it so much.
- I love the traditions that J and I have started so far and am cherishing the new ones we have and will continue with P.

The not so good:
- Family drama. It is over nothing big but it always is there.
- Going nonstop! I feel like once Thanksgiving hits I don't sit until I go back to work in January.
- Feeling like the amount of money spent is more important than the gift. This is a hang up that I have since I am low man on the totem poke in terms of money in my family. I know that I need to let it go but...
- My type A personality getting the best of e and decorating. If you can't go all out on lights and do it right, then don't do it! I know that this does match the fact that I love lights but I like them done well and consistently on a house. Did I mention I am type A?
- (This year only) Being on a restricted diet. Do you understand how hard a cookie exchange is when you are milk free!

This weekend was one of those weekends where I loved most of what was going on but some of my bad list kept coming up. I need to look out our window at the good lights and smile with P and J.

I entered a giveaway

I am hoping to win a Sodastream maker from The Mommyhood Chronicles. Check her out by clicking on her button below!

Milestone Monday and catch-up

It's been a little while sine I posted and it's Monday so I am combining my posts today!

First, milestone Monday - I ate a steak with a teriyaki marinade yesterday. FX that P continues to do well with reintroducing soy. I have successfully brought back soybean oil and lecithin. Enough that I had Chipolte too. Yum - eating out! Other than Wendy's chili, this is the first food I have eaten out since July!

Here are the other goings on in my life:

Basketball is back in season. I have always worked a lot of games, either running the clock or keeping the book. Last year, I joined our varsity and junior varsity teams as their full time book keeper. I even travel with them. Having P put my season into a little question but J rocks and has helped me keep this going. I did give up doing the freshmen games but I kept the important part to me.

The playroom ideas are running wild in my head! I am pumped to work on organizing it. I think that J will want it to happen sooner than later as soon as all the toys roll in from Christmas. Ikea - here I come!

I have been mentally playing with the idea of opening an Etsy shop. It would be a hodge podge of crafts. Some knitted items, some printed items, some paper crafts, and other goodies. I am really nervous about this. I think that I really need to organize myself and build some stock first, then try.

My friend and I have started our first 3 Day fundraiser by Wrapping for a Cure. We were able to set up a gift wrap station at a local open air mall. We have not had much traffic so we are trying to see if there are other locations or ways we can utilize the materials we have collected. I am bummed that this wasn't as good as we hoped but my mind is churning with some other ideas.

On a fabulous note, due to basketball and the wrapping J and P have been hanging at home without me a few hours each weekend day. She is really taking a liking to her dada. Since she had started becoming a real mama's girl, screaming when I left the room, even with J there, this is a great thing for all of us.

I think that sums almost everything. Oh, I am almost done Christmas shopping too. Thank goodness!

Playroom in the making

We live in a modest three bedroom plus loft, two story with a partial basement. The basement is unfinished. The three bedroom were once our master, a guest room, and my craft room, with our office in the loft Once J and I decided to have P, the guest room became her room, my crafts got a new fabulous home:

and were moved to the office. The craft room became the guest room. And we talked of making the basement a playroom. Now that she is here and her toys are about to multiply and are growing, we have talked about this a little more.

Since we are not handy and we don't have the budget to really do what we would like to the basement and we rarely have overnight guests, we are going to make the guest room our playroom! I am really excited because we are going to reprint too!

I already have some ideas for storage. Like this:


And I want to put something on the wall like this:


Now, what color for the walls? I know that some of the storage bins will be pink and green (like in the picture), so I start there but I need a third color. Purple? Gray? Something else? Help!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

No tears!

Milestone Monday (a little late)

I know I am a day off but this is a big one! I have been milk and soy free since June once P was given the MSPI diagnosis. I will never forget the pedi face when I told her I would restrict my diet over moving directly to formula. Please note this is not a knock on those who do not and/or cannot breastfeed. BF was something that I had hoped I could do and worked very hard to be able to do. In that moment, knowing what I had to give up and that 3 months was great and that stopping was not a failure, I made the choice to try. Lucky for me there are lots of swaps, resources, and recipes out there. Along with my great hubby, my fabulous friends have helped me through this to.

At P's 6 month well check, the pedi said that at about 7 and a half months I could start reintroducing soy. My original plan was to wait until 9 months but I realized that stuffing at Thanksgiving was going to be tricky without soybean oil. So last Sunday, just shy of 8 months I brought back soybean oil and soy letixhin. I started small with 2 servings a day. Now I am doing about 3-4 servings a day and... NO reactions! I am so grateful! I am not sure what will come next but I know that I will be going very slow. Milk is months off but this is a start and brings back lots of options for me!

TAT: Thankful

I have always had much to be thankful for in my life - great husband, caring family, a job I live, good health, enough money for all my needs and a good deal of my wants, and good friends to enjoy it all with. This year I am especially thankful for all of that, especially my husband, but also my beautiful daughter. She has brought me so much joy, taught me so many things (practically and emotionally), and showed me that as much as I love her dada, there was so much more love in my heart to give.

8 months!

This past Thursday Payton turned 8 months! Where has the time gone? Here are the basics:

Age: 8 months

Weight: not officially sure. She doesn't have to go back to the doctor til 9 months, but if I had to guess, I would say between 20 and 21 pounds!

Size: size 3 diapers and 9 month clothes. We are asking for 12 month sizes for Christmas but we will be good in 9 month stuff for a little longer.

Sleeping: things are going well here! She goes to bed around 8:30 each night. Week days she is either up on her own around 6 or daddy gets her by 6:30. Weekends are off and on. She has given us a couple mornings til 7:45 but others she is up at 6:30. I cannot complain though!

Feeding: still going strong with breastfeeding and getting into solids. She takes pumped milk like a champ 4ish times a day and I nurse her when we are together. We are on oatmeal cereal once a day and 3-4oz of purees throughout the day. She also LOVES her puffs!

Milestones: sitting very well unassisted is the biggest. She is babbling up a storm but nothing too specific. I have been signing with her and I swear she knows more. J saw it too but she didn't do it today.

Favorite toys/activities: she loves Sophie, her taggie blankets and links the best. The play mat is good but the cats are more fun to watch. The jumperoo is still a go to for sure. I am pumped to see how she likes all the goodies family and Santa bring her soon!

Looking forward to: Thanksgiving! She gets to see some extended family. I hope the stranger danger isn't too bad. She gets to meet Santa at the mall which although in controversial in this house mom wins this year. Christmas will rock too!

I'm in!

I was so blessed to do a 3 day in 2009. It was one of the best experiences of my life. For those who are not familiar with it, Susan Komen For the Cure hosts lots of events to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research and support. One of those events is the 3 day. It is a 69 mike walk over 3 days. There are 15 locations a year. One of my best friends and I did Chicago in 2009. It was fabulous!

My friend asked me to join her again next summer in Cleveland. Needless to say, I am ready to register! Now onto the fundraising and training! I am pumped!

Here is my personal page: http://www.the3day.org/site/TR/2011/General?px=5407907&pg=personal&fr_id=1763
It still needs work but it's official!

Photo Card

Sparkling Snowflakes Christmas

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A to Z of me

I got this idea from Cole's First Blog and thought that it would be good to my new followers and maybe get more!!!

A. Age: 33 years
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate: Vacuuming! Thankfully my husband is okay with it so he does it!
D. Dogs: our first "baby" Gracie - she is a black lab
E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast! Along with coffee or tea of some sort!
F. Favorite color: Pink!!
G. Gold or Silver: Is white gold an option?
H. Height: about 5'7
I. Instruments you play: none
J. Job title: wife, mommy, high school math teacher
K. Kids: One beautiful little girl, almost 8 months old!!
L. Live: Southwest Ohio
M. Mother’s name: Mama or Heather
N. Nicknames: HV, Rub (from my parents)
O. Overnight hospital stays: just for P's birth
P. Pet peeves: not being organized or being late
Q. Quote from a movie: "No one puts Baby in a corner." ( not my fave movie)
R. Right or left handed: right
S. Siblings: I have two older sisters
T. Time you wake up: on a work day at 5:00am, on the weekends - as late as P will go!
U. Underwear: bikinis are my fave - not too low or high, and full coverage!
V. Vegetable you hate: I dont like onions on their own, but low them in things
W. What makes you run late: thinking that I don't have everything so I triple check every bag
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Plenty - legs, ankles, toes, knees, arm, chest, hand
Y. Yummy food that you make: I love to cook but dont bake well (even though all food is my friend). My best meal is probably lasagna.
Z. Zoo animal: Pandas are my favorites!

Please feel free to share your info on your blog and link back to me! Also comment to let me know! I will read it!

Blog Hop - Saturday Laughs

I am joining in the Mommy Chronicle blog hop again. I love seeing new blogs as I hope I am getting some new readers. :)

Here are my funnies for the week:
1. Today J (DH) was juggling some of P's blocks and she was laughing a huge belly laugh. It made us both join in the laughter.

2. I proctored a test today. The students were assigned rooms by last name. I had a string of names from R to V. A girl, whose last name began with W was very confused, then mad, and then adamant that she was supposed to. Be in my room. Did I mention this was a college admission test? She needs to relearn her alphabet!

3. One word: Ellen. I puffy heart love this show. She makes me smile every time I watch.

4. My BIL is running the NY marathon tomorrow. Other than watching him finish, my sister wanted to go to the Today show because she loves Lester Holt. I just saw a picture of her and Lester on FB!

5. Most people look forward to Thanksgiving for dinner, family time, football, etc. While all of that is fun for me too, I am SUPER excited for black Friday. Yes, I have the app and have liked it on FB! I am one of the crazies who will be out there at midnight shopping!

Fill in the Blank Friday

Linking up again with Lauren at The Little Things we do. Check out her cute blog!
 
1.   My favorite thing about this week was/is: getting through P's constipation (she is probably happier than me).

2.   Colder weather makes me: so happy! I love jeans and sweatshirts. Snow days are coming!

3.  Three things that make me terribly happy as of late are: 1. P sawing mama and dada clearly (even if she doesn't know what it means!), 2. I feel like I am in the swing of things with work, J, and P - now to get the housework into it too!! 3. It is almost basketball season! I keep the score book for my school's girls teams. I love the girls and the JV coach is one of my besties and she just had a baby too!

4. If I could only wear one kind of shoe for the rest of my life, I'd choose: slippers - warm, fuzzy, and cozy!

5.  My personality type is: type A but I have one messy drawer. I am also a people pleaser so I have a hard time saying no!

6.  I have a serious problem resisting: good, fancy coffee. I am dying for a pumpkin spice latte but that will come next year as I am dairy and soy free for my baby.

7.  My favorite color to wear is: pink (girly and it has a special meaning).

Wordless Wednesday

Love this girl!

My wish

My little peanut - you were a long time in the making but have made an impression no one would have known. My wish for you is that you love life and live as happily as you want. I want you to love with your whole heart, learn as much as you can, and dream bigger than you can think.

I look forward to each night cuddling before bed - I hope you let me do that forever. I love watching you grin at your dada when he comes home from work. You toothy smile makes everything else disappear! Never forget that joy - it is contagious!

I hope you find your passion in life and can make a living doing it. Work to live though, play hard! Find friends that share everything but don't forget your family. We are pretty friendly too :)

We love you so much and look forward to seeing you learn and grow every day. Keep us on our toes forever little one because we don't want it any other way!

Milestone Monday

Happy Halloween everyone! P and I are handing out candy until bath time, then I am on my own. Other than her first Halloween, we have survived our first bout with constipation! Since we EBF poop has been really consistent. Then we started rice cereal. Our pedi warned us this could happen. So when it did that was my first question - should we switch to oatmeal. We were told no over the phone. J and I thought it was odd but they know best right? So we cut it back to once a day.

Fast forward one week and we were back in the office for a recheck of her ear and still not a regular poop. So I ask again. This NP asks if we are on rice cereal and then tells us to immediately change. Well duh! Mommy instinct should have prevailed. Three days later we are pooping and three more days it is getting back to normal! Yeah!

Well enough about poop, here is my girl!

Blog Hop: Sarurday Funnies

I am linking up to "The Mommyhood Chronicles," a great blog I follow. We are writing about 5 funnies from the week.

Here are my Saturday top five laughs:

5. Yesterday I woke up to find this:

P was sleeping sideways!

4. P has started yelling. Not crying just yelling to "talk." It is so cute and LOUD!

3. Since P has only front teeth so when she eats puffs she nibbles on them in the front. It is adorable!


2. We have been really good about her monthly pictures until this month. We obviously did them (see above) but we were a week late :s

1. I teach high school and Friday the kids dressed up for Halloween. There was a girl dressed as a

Fill in the Blank Friday

Got this idea from a blog I follow "The Scherman Family Four." she got it from "When True Love Really Does Walk In." that blogger got it from a blog she follows "The Little Things we do".  I love stealing ideas from other blogs but want those who have them to get the credit.  Go check out their blogs if they're not on your list. 


1. When I was a kid I wanted to be an LAWYER  when I grew up.

2. As an adult, my dream job would be TEACHING. (I am lucky to do what I really love!)

3. W hen I was younger I wanted to be just like THE GIRLS FROM THE BABYSITTERS CLUB.

4. The childhood Halloween costume that I remember most was when I was an M&M ( I was the yellow one).

5. My favorite childhood toy was definitely MY LITTLE PONY.

6. The time I got into the biggest amount of trouble when I was a kid was when - NEVER HAPPENED. (I had my little bits here and there but nothing big. Iam totally boring in that respect.)

7. I get daily inspiration from my HUSBAND. He is great and I am lucky to have him as my friend, husband, and the father of our daughter!

Toddle Along Tuesday - Milestones

I had done my best to update Milestone Mondays but I have slacked as the school year has gone on. This is a good opportunity for me to add a few!

Payton is eating rice cereal, fruit and veggie purees, teething biscuits, and a little water out of a sippy in addition to her breastmilk. In the past week we also gave her puffs. It was tricky to find some that are soy and milk free but thanks to Whole Foods, I did. She LOVES them! Even to the point that if the container is out she won't pay attention to anything else! It is cute. She even can pick one up and tries to put it in her mouth (not very successfully).

She had been rolling and sitting with help but we are getting to sitting on her own. She still struggles with looking back without tipping back. She likes to sit and play or watch Gracie, our dog, play.

A not-so-fun milestone is that we are dealing with constipation. It started about a week ago when we noticed the pooping was less often and very solid. Then she went a day without going. The next day our sitter told me that she really strained to okay get out a small poop. Our pedi recommended some prune juice (mixed with water), avoiding orange veggies and applesauce. She is not a fan of prune juice but we are getting some in her. FX that things get moving soon!

TAT - Mom of the year here!

I know that that is the first of many things that I will stupidly and willingly do.

http://myorganizedchaosverstreate.blogspot.com/2011/10/bad-mom-but-good-night.html

Enjoy!

PS I don't think my link is a clicky but I don't know how to do that. Any help out there?

7 months today!

So I am stealing again (all good teachers know that is the way to go) and posting our monthly stats. P turns 7 months today! We are closer to 1 than birth!!! She is really getting into the swing of things so here's the scoop:

Age: 7 months old

Stats: We have a chunk on our hands. At her ear infection appointment a week ago she was 18lbs 13oz! She doesn't miss a meal!

Size (diapers, onesies, etc.): Diapers are still size 3.  Clothes are interesting we are definitely into at least 6 months and some 9 months (depending on the brand). Most of her "cold" clothes are 9 months so they can hopefully last a little longer!

Sleeping: now that I am typing it, things will change but.... She seems to be great at STTN. Napping is getting more stable with 2 good day naps and a cat nap in the evenings.

Eating:  Still BF.  I pump for at the sitter's and for her night bottle. We are doing cereal twice a day and a fruit or veggie at dinner. We tried puffs today and they were a hit so into the diet they go!

Milestones: this month has been big. We started solids. Though fruits and veggies are just tolerated, she loves her cereal. She is sitting! It started at our family pictures and she is getting better every day. Rolling is old hat and I think she is starting to roll with intent to get somewhere, although this is new within the last day or two!

Funny moments: She is learning to kiss - which means lightly chew on our faces. She loves to raspberry! She is really ticklish and LAUGHES so happily when we do it.

Looking forward to: trying more food, sitting more, playing - this is super fun for mommy, basketball, and meeting our friend's new little boy (coming Wednesday at the latest!).

Pictures to come soon!

Bad mom but good night

P has not been sleeping well recently. She has a snuffy nose, recovering ear infection, and teething. Needless to say, I am one tired mama! Last night she was up three times within the first 90 minutes! I went to bed after putting her down and J stayed up. Apparently I did not turn on the monitor and ZONKED!

J woke me at 7:45 this morning and asked if we could turn on the monitor to check on her. He thought I was trying CIO last night which was not my intention at all. I guess P cried for about 45 minutes before going to sleep. j checked on her before coming to bed and all was well. He said he woke a couple times in the night and did not hear her.

I feel guilty but he was fine and we all slept. I am trying to tell myself I am not a bad mom but I do feel that way. :(

What I love

P is testing my nerves lately since she is not sleeping. To her defense she is fighting her first ear infection. But I love her and so this Toddle Along Tuesday is timely!

I love the smile we get when she sees us. It is never failing - when we get her up in the morning, when she notices we come in the room, at the dinner table a mist her chewing on her teething biscuit, whenever. Her whole face lights up and it melts me!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I wear pink for my mommy's BFF that started chemo today!

Toddle Around Tuesday!!

Hello! I am looking to get into regular posting and get some more followers! I am Heather - wife, mother, friend, and teacher. I have been married for just over 10 years to my college sweetheart. After trying for a while we just had our daughter in March this year and it has been a ride!



I teach high school math and love my job - it is my dream job. I love organization and try to be crafty. I dream of making and selling something but have not wrapped my head around what yet.

J (my better half) and I met in college through mutual friends. After hanging with the same group, we started dating and married three years later. We spent the beginning part of our marriage not knowing if we would have kids. Once we decided to try, we found it a challenge. We found luck quickly with a little medical intervention we got KU!

P (our daughter) is a cheerful and snugly 6 month old. She is starting to sleep more normally but is constantly challenging us. I write about our life with her here and things that we go through.

Welcome to my a glimpse into our life! I hope that you stick around!

PS - Thanks Mama G for TAT!!!

Blog on Fire

Thank you to the "Scherman Family Four" blog for awarding me the Blog on Fire award! The blog thing is still new to me and I would love to get more followers so I can try some more things. Time will tell how this all goes, but I am glad that Mrs.Monica likes what she sees!


Now the rules for redeeming this award are:

•Write 7 things about yourself
•Pass this award on to 10 other bloggers

About me:
1. I have a passion for my job. I am lucky that I found the ideal place for me - teaching!
2. I am a nerd. I hope I don't look like the classic but I am a nerd through and through!
3. I am super organized but procrastinate. Odd but true!
4. I have a fake tooth.
5. I hate spiders and snakes. My motto is - if it was meant to move on land with more than four legs or less and two, we are not friends!
6. I love pink and all it stands for.
7. Reality TV is my escape!!

Blogs you HAVE TO check out:
1. MODG - this is one of the funniest things I have ever read!
2. MSPI Mama - a God sent to those of us on a restricted diet.
3. Brookie's Baby Bargains - I am newer to this one, but I am loving the new stuff I can learn about!
4. Hoping for a Chance - a fellow TTTCer who is now KU!!
5. End the asshattery already! - another fellow TTTCer with a LO and a fabulous sense of humor!
6. Born in a Barn - another new brand new mom loving the experience!
(I am still new to this blog thing so I only have a few!)

Too much going on

I would have loved to do Milestone Monday and talk about P turning 6 months and starting cereal. I would have loved to post some super cute pictures of these milestones today but the past week has been INSANE!!!

First I found out a good friend of mine is in for a battle with cancer. Then another friend's mom is also battling cancer. Then we lost a student at school. Finally today my mom had a mini stroke. Can this week end now?

BTW - friend's mom's cancer is super treatable. My mom will be okay. They are still running some tests to see what caused it so more info will be coming soon! I will post soon about all the good stuff going on but I need to get through the next couple of days!!!

Wordless Wednesday

So cute and almost 6 months!

Think Pink

P middle name is Hope. There is a special reason for that. My mom is a breast cancer survivor. My SIL is also a survivor. The pink ribbon is very close to my heart. Hope is a key term when thinking about a world without breast cancer. When thinking about P's name a girl middle name was harder for us. The original plan was Ann but we didn't like the way it sounded. After some thought, we agreed on Hope.

Over the weekend I found out that one of my best friends is in for the fight. She has breast cancer. Fittingly, volley 4 a cure was at our school tonight. Most of our girl group was there at one point or another. P and I went. I wore my volley shirt and she wore her pink ribbon top too.

Another friend of mine bought her that top at the Chicago Breast Cancer 3 Day. This is a 60 mile walk that she and I did in 2009 together. She and her daughter did it again this past summer. I was jealous all weekend but she brought me back a great presnt!

P and I are also looking forward to the Race for the Cure next weekend. If it isn't bad weather, we will both be walking with my mom, sisters, and several of my friends. And now, it has even more meaning to me!

Crazy week - ready for Sunday

First, fingers crossed that P sleept through the night completely - I need it! School is really in full swing now. I am heading into grading and planning concurrently and am doing okay balancing it with stuff at home. It is so draining though.

I had posted last weekend about not doing anything but this weekend is not that way. Last night I got some heavy news from one of my friends that I will not go further on to respect her privacy. Today I had my first cross country meet of the season. While it was great to be there, see the students, weather was good - I am one beat mommy! P is down and I am doing my last pump before bed and then I am off to bed. It will be about 10pm and I will be asleep on a Saturday. We are rock stars here!!!

Tomorrow we will need to get all of the regular weekend stuff done, like grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, etc. And I need to get a new bottle warmer. I bought one on the district swap for cheap and now we can't live without it! Thank goodness Buy Buy Baby is close!

This week we need to work on sitting. I know it is not too big of a deal but it would be fun to have that milestone down. And next weekend - 6 months!! Which means we can start cereal. I need to figure out which one we are going to use! Yeah!!

What a weekend!

Long weekends are always good but this one was special. No good reason. We didn't really go anywhere, didn't really do anything special. But it was great! J let me sleep in on Saturday. P had three great days and two good nights (one bad night, but we can't have it all).

I have to say that J and I make a great team and he is a great dad and husband. He really is getting into fatherhood and is loving it. P knows him well and loves to watch and listen to him. I love how they play and interact with each other.

I am pretty lucky!

Oh and football's back baby!

It's 4:00am

P was rough on me during the first 3 months of her life. She did not sleep through the night until after she was 3 months old. She did get to a point where she was only getting up once to eat and she did go right back to sleep so it wasn't horrible but it wasn't good either. The STTN came and I couldn't be happier. School was about to start. We were getting her MSPI under control. Things were settling into a routine.

Enter the tooth.

P has been a hand chewer/sucker instead of a paci girl. This is not due to my lack of trying. We have about 5 kinds of pacifiers in the house, none of which she was ever interested in. I came to terms with that. Every time someone saw her chew on her fingers they would say, "she is working on getting a tooth." Mind you, she was 1 month old and people said this. About a week ago I was having trouble calming her for bed so I tried a paci. She took it like she had always taken it! It was bizarre but it worked! I put her to bed and she STTN. Then last week a little tooth sprouted on the bottom. She was a champ!

That night she woke once in the night but the paci worked. The pedi said we could give her some Tylenol to help at night if needed. We did the next night and back to STTN. Now last night, up again - paci majic back to sleep. Tonight well...

I blame myself for enjoying a little extra couch time before bed. P went down at 9ish and I got in bed about 10:30. At midnight paci time. At 2:15, paci. And now I sit with her on my lap with paci again. Boo teeth - I want to sleep!

Family Friday